The current rouse over government spending by representatives in the British Parliament has made some people look across the ocean at the US to see what our own representatives may be up to. It appears now that Senators and Congressmen (and women) will be on the hot seat for some time to come, with purchases ranging from Lexus’s to plasma TVs. The now retired Darlene Hooley had expensed plants for her office and said that she “tried to be as transparent as possible and report every little thing.” She went on to say they “would look a whole lot better if other people had done the same thing.“ She brings up a good point about transparency. Many representatives spend the bulk of their allowance at the end of the year, as their budget does not roll over into the next year. The most common practice is to give aides large bonuses for their hard work. The problem is that many feel that we are just scratching the surface on needless and frivolous spending as many tax payers are reeling through the troubled economy. Learning that some of our representatives are spending $84,000 on personalized calendars for constituents, such as the case with Rep. Howard Berman, should make any tax payer upset. As we all know, everyone is struggling now and being forced to cut back and seeing our representatives spending tax payer money on items that aren’t truly needed is an issue that needs to be addressed.